1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:13,670 --> 00:00:15,800 Recently airman from the 1 18 th 3 00:00:15,810 --> 00:00:17,866 medical group teamed up with medical 4 00:00:17,866 --> 00:00:20,088 professionals from across the Tennessee 5 00:00:20,088 --> 00:00:22,032 National Guard and Bulgarian Armed 6 00:00:22,032 --> 00:00:23,866 Forces . They strengthened bonds 7 00:00:23,866 --> 00:00:25,866 through a joint exchange of medical 8 00:00:25,866 --> 00:00:27,588 knowledge in the beautiful and 9 00:00:27,588 --> 00:00:29,699 historically rich backdrop of Sofia . 10 00:00:29,699 --> 00:00:32,540 Bulgaria . Bulgaria is a country for 11 00:00:32,549 --> 00:00:34,549 which we have deep ties through our 12 00:00:34,549 --> 00:00:36,660 work in the state partnership program 13 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,422 for Tennessee Guardsmen . It solidified 14 00:00:39,422 --> 00:00:41,709 their skill set in the in route patient 15 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,389 staging system known as S for the 16 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,122 Bulgarians . It aided in their 17 00:00:46,122 --> 00:00:48,209 preparation for a NATO evaluation 18 00:00:48,220 --> 00:00:51,020 taking place in 2024 where they will be 19 00:00:51,029 --> 00:00:53,610 inspected on role one medical care . 20 00:00:54,119 --> 00:00:56,360 This is the first line of medical care 21 00:00:56,369 --> 00:00:59,849 in battlefield situations . It's vital 22 00:00:59,860 --> 00:01:01,804 to continue doing this so they can 23 00:01:01,819 --> 00:01:04,449 strengthen the relationship and also 24 00:01:04,459 --> 00:01:07,519 learn what are the TTP . And so that 25 00:01:07,529 --> 00:01:09,585 the Bulgarians have to follow from a 26 00:01:09,585 --> 00:01:11,585 NATO perspective because they don't 27 00:01:11,585 --> 00:01:13,696 necessarily match what the US wants . 28 00:01:13,696 --> 00:01:15,640 The knowledge exchange happened in 29 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,696 conjunction with the Russian century 30 00:01:17,696 --> 00:01:19,751 2023 for the medical element of this 31 00:01:19,751 --> 00:01:22,010 exercise , the armed forces from both 32 00:01:22,019 --> 00:01:24,300 nations learned and practiced their 33 00:01:24,309 --> 00:01:27,019 role one medical procedures . Yeah , 34 00:01:27,029 --> 00:01:29,029 we're really focused on that combat 35 00:01:29,029 --> 00:01:31,251 environment . We're looking at anything 36 00:01:31,251 --> 00:01:33,489 trauma related scenarios , traumatic 37 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:36,339 amputations , gunshot wounds and blast 38 00:01:36,349 --> 00:01:38,900 injuries . All personnel were being 39 00:01:38,910 --> 00:01:41,290 trained at a state of the art facility . 40 00:01:41,580 --> 00:01:43,470 These high speed training grounds 41 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,459 allowed members to utilize virtual 42 00:01:45,470 --> 00:01:47,889 reality tools and simulated 43 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:50,080 battlefields , creating more realistic 44 00:01:50,089 --> 00:01:52,330 scenarios . That was a really neat tool 45 00:01:52,339 --> 00:01:55,669 to get to see you . And I could see the 46 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,791 application being very useful even in 47 00:01:57,791 --> 00:01:59,680 our own military . These training 48 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,930 exercises illustrated the existing 49 00:02:01,940 --> 00:02:04,349 differences in how the Bulgarians 50 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,669 conduct front line casualty care . It's 51 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,020 them just kind of teaching us different 52 00:02:09,029 --> 00:02:11,029 tactics and different approaches to 53 00:02:11,029 --> 00:02:12,640 what they're doing is really 54 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:14,696 interesting . It's really humbling . 55 00:02:14,696 --> 00:02:16,696 They have a really high skill set . 56 00:02:16,696 --> 00:02:20,289 It's not a rudimentary military . We're 57 00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:22,522 learning just as much from them as they 58 00:02:22,522 --> 00:02:24,689 are from us . The 118 th medical group 59 00:02:24,689 --> 00:02:26,578 and Tennessee guardsmen aided the 60 00:02:26,578 --> 00:02:28,467 Bulgarians the most in their NATO 61 00:02:28,467 --> 00:02:30,356 certification requirements . They 62 00:02:30,356 --> 00:02:32,578 worked with the Bulgarians on practices 63 00:02:32,578 --> 00:02:34,800 such as ambulance , offloading , litter 64 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,570 carrying and stop the bleed procedures . 65 00:02:37,750 --> 00:02:40,000 Mastery of these skills , positions 66 00:02:40,009 --> 00:02:42,690 them to NATO inspection . Next year . 67 00:02:42,699 --> 00:02:45,369 Joint exercises and wartime scenarios , 68 00:02:45,380 --> 00:02:47,324 fostered relationships between two 69 00:02:47,324 --> 00:02:50,130 allied nations , medical skills learned 70 00:02:50,139 --> 00:02:52,195 will save the lives of our troops on 71 00:02:52,195 --> 00:02:54,195 the battlefield . And we are nation 72 00:02:54,195 --> 00:02:56,690 building as information sharing ensures 73 00:02:56,699 --> 00:02:58,643 a better result in Bulgaria's NATO 74 00:02:58,649 --> 00:03:00,871 certification . Well , it's a privilege 75 00:03:00,871 --> 00:03:02,982 to be here . We're looking forward to 76 00:03:02,982 --> 00:03:04,705 this continued partnership and 77 00:03:04,705 --> 00:03:06,927 hopefully we get to come back next year 78 00:03:06,929 --> 00:03:09,910 for their NATO certification check off 79 00:03:10,539 --> 00:03:12,919 the 1 18 medical group supporting 80 00:03:12,929 --> 00:03:15,250 partner nations and making their pivot 81 00:03:15,259 --> 00:03:16,809 to the near peer fight .